I never quite know what I will find on my walks and my walk on Friday was particularly eventful. First of all down a country lane I came across a car with its hazard lights flashing and being all prepared to be beheaded and end up in several pieces spread across the hinterland I went up to it and found the driver had broken down.
I don’t much about cars but I knew more than the driver and that her car had overheated. Fortunately she had a bottle of water with her so I gave her my can of Diet Coke and poured her water into the radiator and soon she was on her way.
A mile or two further on I passed a jogger. I’m not quite sure how that works as I’m a traditionalist and presume joggers move quicker than walkers. I said hello and looked the other way, I think we were both grateful for the 2 metre social distancing allowed us to alleviate embarrassment for both concerned.
I always think it a bit odd when I see these sorts of people all geared up in rather expensive cycling or athletic gear and they are going just a little way, and here is me going miles mostly off-road and I’m just in normal clothes.
Then another few miles further by a lake I came across some bright red and white paint. For a moment I thought I had happened on a murder scene, as it happened I had done so but it wasn’t a person who had been killed.
Due to the end of the 3 month warm and dry spell and it being mid-June, baby frogs were making a run or rather a hop for it from where they had spawned in the lake to the woods where they would hopefully mature in the undergrowth. Unfortunately for them, the usually deserted path is a bit busier than normal with walkers who would otherwise be at work walking along and not paying attention where they are walking and accidentally squashing and killing dozens, possibly hundreds of these little creatures.
Of course in the big scheme of things, the squashed frogs probably make very little difference and certainly many species are booming due to Coronavirus but still, as a true nature lover, it’s hard not to help some of them out.
You can see from the box below that there were plenty of the little things around.
It’s always nice to help whether it is drivers who can’t read their car emergency warning lights or baby frogs. It’s likely that many of them will get eaten in the woods but at least it will help other creatures and hopefully next winter the survivors will hop back into the lake and ready to have their own babies.
One thing is for sure is that when they are at full size, they aren’t going to get many people in their way as even now as small as they are I saw at least one lady let out a bit of a scream and hurry off!
Stephen Liddell 